Merrill Lynch, purchased by Bank of America in 2008, was a large financial services company that had revenues of $70 billion and profits of $7 billion in 2006. It provided financial services for private, institutional, and government clients. It worked with mutual funds, insurance, annuities, trusts, clearing services as well as investment banking and brokerage. [1]

The company operated in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific Rim, and Latin America. Headquartered in New York City, USA, it was founded in 1820. [2]

Protests against coal investments

Apr. 13, 2007: Blockade of Asheville Merrill Lynch

On April 13, 2007, two people calling themselves members of the "Climate Justice League" entered a Merrill Lynch building in Asheville, North Carolina, dumped a sack of coal in the lobby, and used a bicycle lock to blockade the door. The activists demanded that Merrill Lynch stop funding mountaintop removal coal mining companies such as Massey Energy. No arrests were reported.[3]

Financial crisis and the bailout

Role in the crisis

In 1975, the SEC’s trading and markets division ruled that investment banks must maintain a debt-to-net capital ratio of less than 12 to 1. In 2004, following extensive lobbying by the investment banks, the SEC under chairman Christopher Cox authorized five investment banks to develop their own net capital requirements. This enabled investment banks to push borrowing ratios to as high as 40 to 1.[4] These five investment banks were Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch. This very high debt-to-reserves helped lead to the financial crisis of 2008 by weakening the ability of these institutions to recover from losses incurred when the risky CDO and CDS bets failed.[5][6]

Lee A. Pickard, who had been Director of the SEC’s Division of Market Regulation when the 1975 12-1 rule was ordered, said of the change, "The SEC modification in 2004 is the primary reason for all of the losses that have occurred."[7]